My Ethiopia Experience. A Thread #zeddytravels

Better late than never I guess and been too busy to write this but here we go. I will try to break down as many details and my experience backpacking in Ethiopia for 3 weeks.

So the first question is why Ethiopia and should you even consider it as a travel destination? Well, this didn't age well, and when I figured out you really don't need a group to travel my life has never been the same. https://twitter.com/ZeddyShizzle/status/1054416406664675333?s=20

Well if you don't know me well by now I am a huge coffee fan and no other country gives us a run for our money than Ethiopia. So first reason was to see the land where coffee was discovered https://twitter.com/ZeddyShizzle/status/923085124765409280?s=20

Then one day while camping in Namanga @mercymurugi told me about her experience in the country and all the activities she did over there like Danakil depression and a simple google search got me even more interested.

I also knew about the Tribes in the south and the Hyena feeding ceremony in Harar. As a kid l always watched Natgeo so knew about the gelada monkey and the bearded vultures. There were also the Rastafarians in Ethiopia which sounded really cool. So with all these options...

So on travel day I flew from Mombasa to Addis. As usual was carrying my full gear with included my accommodation. If you know what I mean

So while on the plane and reading the magazine I learnt that only Kenyan and Djibouti citizens are allowed visa free access to Ethiopia. While this made me feel proud for a moment my Pan African was shaking with this info. Story for another day but #visafreeafrica

At bole Airport they have an information centre will all details and places you want to visit. Very friendly staff who helped me with WiFi as I waited for my pickup. I was also happy my tent made it safe as I could not carry it as a hang luggage

So my man @mwanzo_k gave me a contact of a friend who was in Addis and spoke to her before flying and she agrees to pick me up. In my whole travelling life I would say I have never met anyone sweeter than her. She really has a big heart and gave me hope with humanity

So the first weird thing I notice is people drive on the other side of the road. Then we arrive at around 5 and there is huge traffic so ask her why is it this crowded. To make things worse I see kids in school uniform then I get more confused. Mind you this was in December

Then I learn that in Ethiopia it is the year 2012 and while the rest of the world is enjoying Christmas holidays they are busy and everything is going on as usual. So basically I was a time traveller and had just travelled back in time.

Addis traffic is almost like Nairobi, Well definitely can't be that crazy so it was late and was curious to have an Ethiopian dinner. Little did I know this was the meal I was going to have for the rest of my trip

Day 1 in Addis and decide to hit the street, the First destination was the university of Addis which is where the former palace of Haile Selassie used to be. Also uber isn't available in Addis but they have local taxi apps: Zayride & Ze Lucy which you can easily download and use

As a sucker for history and culture I really wanted to know more about this nation and the fact that they were not colonized the museum serves as a good source of information to the people, language and culture.

Museum tour

Coffee plays an integral park in Ethiopian society and their domestic consumption has to be the highest in Africa. The traditional brewing process is something I came to appreciate in my journey and felt like I was in coffee heaven

The best part of the Museum was actually being in the room of the great Emporer. I learnt that he was very short based on his bed size. so there is hope for you @Smalzz_

More of the room

The man has style for his time, But also read disturbing news about his lavish style and this made me have mixed reactions to all of this.

A video to summarise the room

Last one and we are done now......

The entrance to the Museum was 100 Birr but would say was totally worth it.

So while walking back home saw the National Museum of Ethiopia and since I had no plan was like why not and decide to go in to check it out. The price is 10 birr which is really cheap and decided to walk in and roam around

As a Kenyan, I am used to this whole Africa is the source of humankind stuff so didn't give it much attention but when I started reading about the story of Lucy I was really intrigued and became interested to learn more. Take time and read about LUCY make google your friend.

The blue Taxi is Addis signature way to get around other than public roads. Cars are really really really expensive in this country so almost all cars are these classics. when I got in found the driver chewing Khat and was immediately happy and started talking

Khat or miraa is usually illegal in most countries. I guess we really take it for granted here but remembered trying to smuggle it in for a friend in Nyege Nyege and was always funny. In Tz this would get you serious jail time so was good for once to see a country was legal

The Ethiopians have a peculiar way of chewing khat. They only eat the leaves and yes they swallow the leaves and take it down with water. This just shows how different we all are so they throw the whole miraa and it was such a waste for me

So apparently it is a sin if you visit Addis and not go to Habesha 2000, Well I really don't enjoy doing typical touristy stuff but seeing the Ethiopian dance was really amazing

Remember the Injera story it was going to haunt me so here had shiro. The fact that I don't drink makes me miss a lot of cultural things like Tej which is the local wine made from honey but I have been told so many nice things about it so you should definitely try it out.